The Bengal Club: Moving with the times into popular pot-pourri with regional flavour

What’s a two-day delay after a 177-year wait?

Subho Nava Varsha is coming to The Bengal Club on Friday — not Wednesday — like never before.

“Bengal Club and Bengali culture come one step closer… The Bengali New Year will be celebrated on the club premises for the first time in its 177-year history… with adda and gaan,” proclaims the missive from the club management.

The timing of the celebrations — 48 hours too late — is easily explained. “Many of our members are also members of other clubs, so we didn’t want our programme to clash with the others,” says S.K. Mitra, vice-chairman of the club’s entertainment committee.

The nature of the celebrations — a pot-pourri of words and verses, “in true Bengali style” — has, however, creased a few brows at the Russel Street club.

“Celebrating Nava Varsha is one thing but having an adda like this is quite a revolting thought. The Bengal Club was never meant to be the Bengali club. It was always meant to be a cosmopolitan club, with its own distinctive identity. Why tamper with that?” demands a past president of the club.

“Why do what everyone else is doing and doing far better? The club should maintain its tradition and individuality. If such an adda is to be organised, have it in Mohun Bagan club, not Bengal Club,” he adds.

The club once famous for its forbiddingly stiff upper lip, has been playing host to a slew of “popular” programmes with a Bengali flavour of late — from a Bibi Russel fashion show to adda and abritti (elocution) sessions.

“Some of these programmes may be uneven in quality, but they have all proved to be hugely popular,” says past president Amiya Gooptu.

The character of membership at the club has undergone a dramatic change since the 1990s, with the induction of professionals from different walks of life, points out Gooptu.

“There might still be some opposition to the changes but the member participation at such events proves that we are on the right track. After all, if you don’t move with the times, you can’t move far,” he adds.

Some of the major "Bangaliyana" steps taken at the club can be traced back to Gooptu's tenure at the top.

The debut of Tagore books in the library; the first fashion show on the club premises featuring Bangladesh's Bibi; an evening of elocution by Soumitra Chatterjee; a classical music recital by father-daughter duo Ajoy and Kaushiki Chakraborty… the movement, it seems, has picked up pace and popularity.

"We've had a steamer party and an Oscar Wilde play in recent months, but Friday will be a quintessential Bangali evening," says committee member Mitra, promising a spread of "typical luchi, pulao, mangsho, chingri, chatni, mishti and doi" to match the mood and the melody for an audience in "dhoti-kurta" or sari.